Page 101 of Keeping Kasey
When I finally get to Ford’s office, I lock the door and run to the desk.
It only takes a few seconds, but it feels like hours have passed by the time I’m in the program again. All that’s left is to access the operation data and compile a list of every user who has ever used the program.
I originally planned to include the device each traitor used to access it, but I can always add that later.
Time is not a commodity I have—a fact that becomes increasingly clear when my phone rings.
Logan’s name lights up the screen.
My heart lurches, dread tightening my chest as bile crawls up my throat.
But I can’t answer it.
This program is delicate, requiring my full attention and the constant disarming of firewalls and malware so it won’t lock me out. I made it impenetrable—with the potential for self-destruction—and for once, I’m not proud of that fact.
When it rings for the third time, a tear slides down my cheek. My silence will only add to my guilt, but right now, I don’t have a choice.
The phone doesn’t ring again, and it’s only a matter of time before Logan sends someone to find me, but with only ten percent left to load, I can’t stop.
The monitor next to me lights up with an alert, and my stomach drops when I read it.
Seize Kasey Miller immediately.
The weight on my chest becomes unbearable, preventing any oxygen from reaching my lungs. Whatever breaths I do manage to pull in are strained as my heart cracks into a million tiny pieces.
He’ll listen to me once I have this list.
He’ll understand why I did it.
He’ll forgive me, and everything will go back to normal.
So, I stay firmly planted in my seat and watch the progress bar.
Five percent left.
Four.
Three.
Two.
The screen goes black.
The wordsLOCKDOWN ENGAGEDflash across the screen, confirming something worse thananyscenario I could’ve imagined.
This can’t be happening.
Ford must have employed the lockdown protocol to slow me down, but what itactuallydid is so much worse.
The communication program has a failsafe—if it’s attacked while open, it wipes all data from existence.
Which is exactly what just happened.
The list of names—which I wassecondsfrom having—has been permanently erased.
The only proof of my innocence is gone.
And Logan is going to kill me.
